feat: add skip_latents() to test_mode helpers

New env-var-gated helper alongside skip_visualization() / skip_checks().
Returns True when any PYAUTO_TEST_MODE level is active, or when
PYAUTO_SKIP_LATENTS=1 is set explicitly. Consumed by PyAutoFit's
SearchUpdater._compute_latent_samples short-circuit (PyAutoLabs/PyAutoFit#1294).

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: 2 people

autoconf/test_mode.py

@@ -48,3 +48,16 @@ def skip_checks():
     inversion position exceptions, sample weight thresholds.
     """
     return os.environ.get("PYAUTO_SKIP_CHECKS", "0") == "1"
+
+
+def skip_latents():
+    """
+    Return True if latent variable computation should be skipped.
+
+    Auto-enabled when any ``PYAUTO_TEST_MODE`` level is active (test-mode
+    fits mock the underlying samples, so latent values are not meaningful)
+    and can also be triggered independently via ``PYAUTO_SKIP_LATENTS=1``
+    for real-mode fits where the user wants to bypass the post-fit
+    ``compute_latent_samples`` pass.
+    """
+    return is_test_mode() or os.environ.get("PYAUTO_SKIP_LATENTS", "0") == "1"